"Most people today," writes political philosopher John Gray, "think they belong to a species that can be master of its destiny. This is faith, not science."

The unfolding disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station sorely strains that faith, as did the 1979 crisis at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant and the 1986 catastrophe at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.

Fukushima has already surpassed Three Mile Island in intensity. As we go to press, experts concede the possibility of Chernobyl-level meltdown.

Three things stand between resolution and further tragedy: the quality of the engineering of the containment vessels surrounding the nuclear reactors; the heroic efforts of 50 anonymous workers who in the dark and amidst sporadic explosions and fire suffer prolonged radiation exposure while working to stabilize the plant; and — it must be admitted — luck.

This is the third disaster to hit the energy industry within 11 months. The first occurred last April in Montcoal, West Virginia, where a huge explosion rocked the Upper Big Branch Mine, killing 29. A couple of weeks later, an explosion on a British Petroleum drilling rig 52 miles off the coast of Louisiana triggered what became the world's largest oil spill. And now there is Fukushima.

The corporate owners of these enterprises may differ, as do the magnitudes of the respective tragedies, but they share a common denominator: a wanton failure to take adequate safety measures. In the case of Fukushima, it was to safeguard against a worst-case natural disaster.

The Fukushima nuclear plant was crippled by a one-two punch. First, an earthquake of almost unprecedented intensity damaged its reactors. Then, a subsequent tsunami disabled the diesel-powered electric generators that were supposed to serve as a failsafe.

As long ago as 1972, experts within the closed nuclear community issued warnings about potential weakness in the design of the reactors used at Fukushima — and, in the United States, at 16 power plants, including the Pilgrim Nuclear Station that sits overlooking Cape Cod.

According to a US State Department document released via WikiLeaks, American nuclear officials two years ago found Japan's key atomic regulator a "disappointment" for being too close to the nuclear industry.

Days after it became clear that the Fukushima accident was of historic proportions, the Russian nuclear rescue expert who led the Chernobyl clean-up publically criticized Japanese and United Nations nuclear watchdogs for succumbing to corporate influence and greed.

In a world with an insatiable appetite for energy, the greed and concomitant recklessness evinced by corporate overlords in West Virginia, in the Gulf of Mexico, and now in Japan must strike people of good will as nothing short of criminal.

It's Japan's turn This letter is in response to your editorial, "Nuclear Failure" (March 18), covering the disaster in Japan. It never fails to amaze me that change always has to be the result of catastrophe.

Japan's Chernobyl It may have receded from the headlines, but the crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station continues.

Maine nuke reports missing With Japan in the midst of the most serious nuclear power plant mishap since Chernobyl, Mainers may have been looking for reassurances regarding the spent fuel stranded at what was once Maine Yankee.

Scum along the Potomac As of this writing, a shutdown of the federal government appears to be a serious possibility. Perhaps sensible heads will prevail, but either way the Republicans now leading the US House of Representatives have been exposed as destructive fools with no interest in governing, or in the fates of real people.

This trickle-down stinks True free-market capitalism has lasted 30 years — barely half as long as its arch-enemy, Soviet communism.

Cheap Trick | Budokan! These days, all an American outfit has to do to get famous is name itself after an animal and get blogged about for 24 hours.

President Obama In retrospect, it all seems of a piece: suitably fitting, almost ordained.

East meets West The paintings in "Shôwa Sophistication" at the Museum of Fine Arts are like the dreamiest travel posters you've ever seen.

Award-worthy The amount of research that Jason Notte conducted for his extensive article on the surge in suicides in the military is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize.

Tax time? State House of Representatives leaders have served the Commonwealth well with their austere new budget: they have shown us the tremendous sacrifices we will need to make, and the drastic cuts that will be put into effect, if we don't raise new revenues.

MERCY AND SAL DIMASI | March 13, 2013 When it comes to showing a modicum of mercy to some of those convicted of federal crimes, Barack Obama is shaping up to have the worst track record of any president in recent memory.

NEXT, MARRIAGE EQUALITY | March 05, 2013 On March 27 and 28, the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in two cases that could essentially put America on the road to full marriage equality.

THUS SPAKE MARKEY | February 26, 2013 Last week, Congressman Ed Markey inadvertently injected some daring political thinking and a touch of historical imagination into the race to fill the US Senate seat vacated by John Kerry's appointment as secretary of state.

DRONES: 10 THOUGHTS | February 20, 2013 Foreign drone attacks are almost (but not quite yet) as American as apple pie.